UK light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi made a winning yet underwhelming debut to his career under fresh promotional backing with a unanimous decision over Zach Parker in Manchester.
The Olympic medal winner's activity level appeared to earn him a split decision in a tight 10-round fight at the Manchester venue.
But the challenger had his moments, connecting with powerful individual punches in a fight where the techniques didn't complement each other, with excessive holding disrupting the action.
The scoring judges scored it 96-94 to the winner, with the third a 95-95 draw.
"It wasn't my greatest performance but what defines champions? They prevail," the victor said in the ring as he was met by negative reactions from the audience.
The British fighter bounced back after his first professional defeat - an thrilling contest with Callum Smith in February - to secure a 20th pro success.
Some ringside observers thought Parker, 31, merited the win but the Derbyshire fighter endured the second defeat of his 28-bout career.
The Champion Earns Win in Dull Encounter
The fighter's advancement has plateaued in the past few years through promotional disputes and considerable time of lack of fights.
Earlier forecast as the next star of British boxing, he now is positioned trying to realize his potential - maybe in what feels like a final roll of the dice - under new promotional backing.
He opened tentatively, with the two boxers prepared to be aggressive in a tentative opening few rounds.
Parker, whose single earlier setback came at the lower weight class against his former opponent in two years ago after damaging his hand in the contest, was participating in his second bout at light-heavyweight.
By the halfway stage, Parker had kept it close, creating difficulties for the favorite, who operated with a solid defense to edge the better stanzas.
The crowd's patience wore thin because of constant clinching, with Parker falling to the floor multiple occasions during close exchanges.
The underdog closed well, but multiple periods were hard to judge. Although, ex-champion the boxing analyst - working with Dazn - had it strongly leaning for the challenger, scoring for Buatsi just one round.
Buatsi progresses, but with the caliber of power puncher Benavidez, and Eastern European fighter Bivol dominating the weight class, the journey to titles - judging by this showing - still looks steep.
Ricky Hatton Memorial Inspires All-Manchester Fight
In the secondary fight, Lyndon Arthur beat Bradley Rea by divided decision in a terrific all-Manchester battle to secure the European light heavyweight belt.
The venue fell silent for a extremely emotional memorial before the fight as ten bells rang in memory of the city's native Ricky Hatton, who died aged 46 in recently.
It was the first major televised match card in the urban center since the passing of Hatton. As the last bell ended, the stillness gave way to a chant of "there's just one Hatton".
The action during the bout reflected the sentiment. The eventual winner was floored by a significant blow directly to the chin in the early round, rising shakily to his feet on the count of eight.
But the Manchester United-red shorts of Arthur soon came forward again. On the opposite side, the opponent - in competitive blue - was injured early, noticeable damage appearing under his orbital area as the pair landed powerful shots.
The challenger, 27, landed power punches but Arthur, 34, responded in kind with powerful upward punches as the pace seldom decreased over 12 rounds.
The victor edged the verdict with scoring tallies of draw, narrow lead and clearer margin, but each competitor were persistent and courageous, all the qualities their idol the legend embodied.
